I'm looking into learning XHTML, CSS, PHP, etc. for webdesign. Things seem to be getting easier with pre-made themes in Drupal, Wordpress, and programs that construct sites with a "designer" just "filling in the blanks." Any opinions - advice from experienced web developers/designers on:1. Are things changing so that newbies like me should learn how to use the apps/programs/cmf's instead of learning the programming languages? 2. What is your opinion of Windows Azure?Thanks in advance.

KyleWolfe
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2012-11-30T21:14:42Z —
#2

Welcome to SP!

While I do not have experience with Azure, my question to you is: Do you think you are developing anything sophisticated enough to warrant hassling with a cloud setup?

Clouds are really targeted to those with large scale sites that anticipate seeing significant growth in the future. There is a long gap between the points where you'd start to reap the benefits of a cloud service. There's plenty of hosting plans out there (much cheaper by the way) that can handle probably 90% of web sites that are built, before any "scaling" is needed. Sure deployment might be made easier with Azure, but ask yourself if deploying your app by yourself is really that difficult.

benjibo
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2012-12-04T22:39:29Z —
#3

Got it. Thank you. I think I'll do a little more research and ask related questions in Web Development. Thanks again.

logic_earth
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2012-12-05T01:24:10Z —
#4

Windows Azure is suitable for both large sites and small hobby sites, just look at the Shared Website hosting they provide. Whether you need the scalablity or not is really not an issue. With Azure you only pay for what you use. I've personally been using Azure for a while now.